A U.S. trooper stands in the turret of a vehicle with a machine gun, left, as a guard looks out from a tower at the detention facility of Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. / Brennan Linsley AP

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- The White House announced Friday the U.S. intends to transfer two detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Algeria as part of its effort to close the military prison in Cuba.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement that the Pentagon certified to Congress its intent to repatriate the two to Algeria.

"We are taking this step in consultation with the Congress, and in a responsible manner that protects our national security," Carney said.

The White House did not release the names of the detainees or any personal details about them.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence committee, questioned the move, noting that the recidivism rate for former Guantanamo detainees who have been released stands at 28%.

"We know one former (Guantanamo) detainee was involved in the Benghazi attacks, and we simply cannot afford to take that risk with other detainees just to satisfy a political promise," said Chambliss, referring to the terrorist attack on a U.S. facility in Libya that left four Americans dead. "To do so would be nothing short of an invitation for al-Qaeda to continue to attack us."

The announcement comes as President Obama has stepped up efforts to follow up on a first-term promise to close the prison. He will meet on Thursday with Yemeni President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi at the White House to discuss the transfer of Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo back to Yemen.

Twenty-six of 46 captives held as "indefinite detainees" are from Yemen. Indefinite detainees are considered too dangerous to release, but there also is not enough evidence to justify a criminal trial.

The Pentagon announced earlier this week that 71 detainees at Guantanamo will get parole-board-style hearings at the Navy base in Cuba -- something that Obama ordered more than two years ago.

Dozens of Guantanamo's 166 detainees have been participating in hunger strikes to protest their indefinite confinement as well as conditions at the U.S. military base.

Earlier this month, a federal judge turned down the bid of three detainees on a hunger strike to stop the government from force-feeding them.